Department for Transport

Railways: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce unmanned aerial vehicle technology for general data acquisition on the rail network.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The use of drone technology for data acquisition is already prevalent on the rail network.Network Rail drones gather data, videos and images of the railway for regular maintenance purposes. Drones can reach areas which are usually difficult to access, such as roofs, bridges, coastal areas, the overhead wires that power electric trains and communication masts.Inspecting the railway in this way also means lines can be kept open to train services and keep workers safe as engineers are not out on the track unnecessarily.

Railways

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce double decker trains to the UK rail network.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government does not have any plans to introduce double decker trains to the UK national rail network.Double decker trains would require significant civil engineering investment including modifications to station roofs, electrification equipment, signal gantries, bridges, platforms and many other structures close to the line which would be costly and disruptive to passengers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Hospitality Industry: Older Workers

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to supportolder workers filling the hospitality labour gap.

Lord Callanan: We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Sector Council is actively looking at this issue, including working directly with the Hospitality Rising Campaign through our Hospitality and Tourism Skills Board. Support has been boosted by 37 50PLUS Champions covering every district across England, Wales and Scotland who will work with local employers to help them realise how their recruitment could benefit from the talent of older workers.

Small Businesses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps theyare taking to support small businesses experiencing consumer growth slowdowns.

Lord Callanan: On 20 July, my Rt. Hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced an extension for the Recovery Loan Scheme. The Recovery Loan Scheme helps smaller businesses access loans and other kinds of finance up to £2 million per business group so they can grow and invest. The finance can be used for any legitimate business purpose, including growth and investment or working capital. Furthermore, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure that all eligible businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period.

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations on the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill; and whether they will consult formally with the devolved administrations as the bill progresses through Parliament.

Lord Callanan: The Government remains committed to proactively engaging with devolved administrations at official and Ministerial level on the reviews into retained EU law. To date, there have been regular official level discussions with the devolved administrations and we will continue to engage in areas of interest as the Bill progresses through Parliament.

Fuels: Price Caps

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the price cap to fuels such as (1) Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), (2) Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), (3) heating oil, and (4) solid fuels such as coal.

Lord Callanan: The Government has no plans to introduce a price cap on alternative fuels.

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for stakeholders to be consultedon the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill before the Bill is passed.

Lord Callanan: Since the commencement of Bill development, the Government has conducted an extensive programme of informal consultations with senior constitutional and retained EU law legal experts, think tanks, business representative organisations and the judiciary. The Government will continue to work with a range of stakeholders across the whole of the UK to ensure the best possible outcome when reforming retained EU law.

Drax Group

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government what knowledge they had, if any,of renewable energy company Drax purchasing licences to cut down trees from primary forests in Canada to make wood pellets for its power station in Yorkshire, as alleged in the BBC's Panorama investigation, which aired on 3 October.

Lord Callanan: The regulator Ofgem is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators which receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the biomass sustainability criteria have been met by the generator. These criteria ensure that only sustainable biomass is used to produce renewable electricity. Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website. To receive support generators must follow sustainable management practices that require the maintenance and replanting of the forest, demonstration that deforestation is not occurring where they source material from, and that biodiversity, soil and water are protected, among other requirements.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Energy Bill Support Scheme will be rolled out in Northern Ireland in November this year.

Lord Callanan: Households in Northern Ireland will receive a £400 discount on their energy bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme (NI EBSS) this winter. This offers the same level of support as households in Great Britain are receiving under the Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS). The Government is working at pace to deliver a solution which accounts for the Northern Ireland market and to provide the support as soon as possible this winter.

Natural Gas: Storage

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 20 September (HL2203), what plans they have to increase the UK’s gas storage capacity.

Lord Callanan: Gas storage is considered among other options in strengthening the UK’s energy security.

Power Failures

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prepare for winter electricity blackouts.

Lord Callanan: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) works closely with network operators, the regulator Ofgem and other stakeholders to ensure that the appropriate technical measures are able to be deployed throughout the year, to ensure the integrity of the energy system.

Department for Education

Multi-academy Trusts

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they will use as the basis for the expansion ofmulti-academy trusts within the area-based approach to commissioning.

Baroness Barran: Details of what Regional Directors consider when making decisions about trust growth are set out in 'Building strong academy trusts: Guidance for academy trusts and prospective converters' published in May 2021. Before approving a decision about growth, Regional Directors will consider the evidence about the educational and financial capacity of the academy trust. In doing so, they will consider the particular circumstances and maturity of the academy trust.In addition, 'Implementing school system reform in 2022/23', published in May 2022, sets out that Regional Directors will adopt an area-based approach to commissioning. This will focus on quality first, identifying those trusts which are best placed to take on underperforming schools in these areas. Area-based commissioning will commence initially in education investment areas, prior to being rolled out across the country in due course.

Schools: Infectious Diseases

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take during the winter period to reduce transmission of (1) SARS-CoV-2, (2) flu viruses, and (3) other respiratory, airborne diseases, in schools; and what steps they will take to encourage pupils, teachers and other staff to remain at home rather than come into the premises and spread those illnesses.

Baroness Barran: Most infectious diseases in education and childcare settings should be managed by following the advice set out in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The advice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-in-schools-and-other-childcare-facilities.If a school suspects an incident or outbreak, they should review and reinforce existing measures including ensuring that any staff or students with relevant symptoms stays at home for up to five days as described in UKHSA’s guidance. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-symptoms-of-a-respiratory-infection-including-covid-19.The department’s emergency planning and response guidance sets out how education and childcare settings should plan for and deal with emergencies. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.The department will continue to review any emerging evidence, public health guidance and advice to help ensure that schools remain as safe as possible.

Children: Mental Capacity

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to theincrease of 462 per cent in applications for Deprivation of Liberty orders overthe last three years, what plans they have (1) to ensurethat there is appropriate secure accommodation for children affected by these orders close to where it is needed, and (2) to avoid children from England being sent to Scotland or being detained in unsuitable places such as hospital wards.

Baroness Barran: In England, the statutory responsibility for ensuring a looked-after child or young person is in the appropriate placement rests with local authorities, as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of individual children in their care. Local authorities have a duty to ensure sufficient appropriate provision for all the children they look after.The department recognises that some local authorities sometimes find it difficult accessing the most appropriate accommodation, particularly for children with the most complex needs, and that children are sometimes placed in locations away from home, when they may be better served by a placement in their local area, if available.The department is taking significant steps to support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. Between now and 2025, £259 million will be made available to develop and expand the provision of both secure and open homes, to reduce out of area placements, to provide for children with complex needs, and to promote innovative practice to maintain placement stability.Furthermore, Ofsted has recently taken steps to make the process of registration more straightforward to support local authorities in increasing the placement options available to them. Ofsted has also issued guidance on registering a multi-building children's home, enabling a home to accommodate up to six children in up to four buildings, within one single registration.

Free School Meals

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to offer free school meals to all children from households receiving Universal Credit.

Baroness Barran: Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. That includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals (UIFSM), further education free meals, and a permanent extension to include some children of groups who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF), subject to specified income thresholds.The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, the greatest ever proportion of school children, 37.5%, are now provided with FSM.The department continues to monitor the situation surrounding the rising cost of living whilst working with other government departments on support surrounding this issue. The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to extend universal provision, but it will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. Extending FSM eligibility to all pupils would carry a significant financial cost.

Classics: State Education

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Barran on 21 September (HL2205),what similar steps they are taking, if any, to encourage the study of ancient Greek in state schools in England.

Baroness Barran: The recently launched Latin Excellence Programme will provide pupils in participating state schools in England with a broad Classics education in addition to Latin provision. However, the department has no plans to introduce new initiatives specifically for the study of ancient Greek.All schools are free to teach ancient Greek as a language option if they so choose. Ancient Greek can also be taught in primary schools as a key stage 2 language option. It is included under the languages pillar of the GCSE EBacc performance measure.

Overseas Students

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the UK as a destination for international students.

Baroness Barran: To ensure that the UK remains a top destination for international students, the department has launched Study UK. The Study UK campaign, delivered by the British Council, promotes UK universities to the world and encourages international students to study in the UK.Attracting the brightest students from around the world is good for our universities, delivers growth at home, as well as supporting the creation of more places for UK students.

Children: Social Services

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: To ask His Majesty's Government what information, if any, they collect from the National Deprivation of Liberty Court onincreases in (1)'inherent jurisdiction' unregulated placements, and (2) non-legally compliant 'secure accommodation' placements; and whether they can provide abreakdown of this information by (1) age, (2) gender, and (3) race.

Baroness Barran: The department does not collect information from the National Deprivation of Liberty Court on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory are collecting data from the national court over a pilot period and publishing monthly to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the court. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court.It is important to note that a setting that provides care and accommodation is subject to regulation and must be registered as a children’s home. Where a deprivation of liberty order involves a setting that is not registered as a children's home, guidance issued by the President of the Family Division is clear that an application to register the provision with Ofsted must be made within seven working days from the date of the deprivation of liberty order. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/addendum-to-practice-guidance-placements-in-unregistered-childrens-homes-in-england-or-unregistered-care-home-services-in-wales/.

Higher Education: Standards

Lord Johnson of Marylebone: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the speech by the Home Secretary on 8 October in which she said “too many students coming into this country who are propping up, frankly, substandard courses in inadequate institutions”, whether they will list (1) all substandard higher education courses and the criteria for their inclusion in this category, and (2) all inadequate higher education institutions and the criteria for their inclusion in this category; and how many international students in total attend substandard courses at inadequate institutions.

Baroness Barran: The department is committed to tackling low-quality courses and ensuring that students and the taxpayer see returns on their investment. We are working with the Office for Students’ (OfS) to implement a visible and effective investigations regime that will enable the OfS to intervene where it has concerns about the quality of provision or student outcomes.Where higher education providers are found to be in breach of requirements, the OfS may choose to impose sanctions such as financial penalties, suspension from the OfS register or, in the worst cases, deregistrationThese “boots on the ground” inspections are part of significant regulatory reform being taken forward with the OfS, which aims to introduce a more rigorous and effective quality regime. This also includes setting stringent minimum thresholds on student outcomes for the first time.

Service Industries: Apprentices

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the standards of degree apprenticeships being provided for students in the service industries.

Baroness Barran: This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to my noble Friend and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.

Local Government: Multi-academy Trusts

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government which local authorities have submitted applications to launch their own multi-academy trusts as part of the pilot scheme.

Baroness Barran: The department has received 29 registrations of interest from local authorities interested in establishing a multi-academy trust through a test-and-learn exercise. The department is withholding the release of the names of the local authorities who submitted a registration of interest, as it has previously applied a Freedom of Information Act exemption to this information: Section 35(1)(a) relating to the formulation and development of government policy.The department undertook a public interest test as required by the Act and concluded that not disclosing the information outweighed the public interest in disclosure.The department will publish the names of the successful applications for the test-and-learn in due course.

Apprentices: Small Businesses

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure on the 95 per cent co-payments for SME apprenticeships in each of the last five years.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure on the 95 per cent co-payments for apprenticeships in apprenticeship levy partners who have spent all their levy funds in each of the last five years.

Baroness Barran: The table below shows the total value of co-investment by the government to support apprenticeships in levy-paying employers in the 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years.Financial YearTotal co-investment spend by government for levy paying employers (£million)2017/18142018/19522019/20762020/21106 The government pays 95% of training costs for employers that don't pay the levy, who are often small and medium sized enterprises, with these employers required to co-invest the remaining 5%. Apprenticeships that started before 1 April 2019, when the co-investment rate was reduced to 5%, continue at the previous co-investment rate of 10%.The table below shows the total value of co-investment by the government to support apprenticeships in non-levy paying employers in the 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years.Financial YearTotal co-investment spend by government for non-levy paying employers (£million)2017/181892018/195282019/206502020/21557 To note, the expenditure in both tables includes spend on additional payments to employers and providers, such as for English and maths training and for learner support. These costs are met by government, through the wider apprenticeship budget for all employers, and are not deducted from the balance of funds in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts.The department’s accounts for 2021/22 financial year have not yet been audited and published.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners' Release

Lord Moylan: To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence are currently on licence in the community; and of those, how many have had their supervision requirement terminated, broken down by the number of years since they were first released from custody.

Lord Bellamy: All IPP offenders are released on an IPP licence for a minimum period of 10 years. The Probation Service may apply to the Parole Board for the suspension of the supervisory conditions on an offender’s IPP licence only after the offender has completed five years of continuous, trouble-free resettlement and good behaviour in the community (other than in exceptional circumstances). The Parole Board is responsible for making the final decision on whether supervision should be suspended.As of March 2022, 3,258 offenders, serving an IPP sentence, were on licence in the community. Of these, 172 offenders serving an IPP sentence have had their supervision requirement suspended. The following table shows this figure broken down by the number of years since they were first released from custody*.Years since first release from custodyCount of IPP cases where the supervision requirement is terminated43546971284794210301113125136141Grand Total172*Data Caveats:Three cases are shown as having data suspended after 4 years in the table above. This is because the policy previously allowed for consideration after 4 years, so some currently in the community applied under the previous policy at the 4 year point.As with any large administrative data source the possibility of errors cannot be eliminated.While data has been assured as much as practical, as with any large administrative dataset data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last value presented.

Powers of Attorney: Standards

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average turn around time for the Office of the Public Guardian to register a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Lord Bellamy: It is currently taking the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) up to 20 weeks to register a lasting power of attorney (LPA), including a 4-week statutory waiting period to allow for objections.

Probation: Sexual Offences

Lord Laming: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of ProbationAnnual Report 2022: Serious Further Offences, published on 29 September, what steps they will take to prevent people under probation supervision from committing serious sexual or violent offences.

Lord Bellamy: Serious further offences are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are charged with a serious further offence, but we know that each offence will have a devastating impact on the victims and their families. We carry out a thorough review into each one to identify whether our practice needs to change for the better management of future cases.Risk cannot be eliminated entirely. However, all offenders managed in the community on licence are subject to strict conditions, to enable the Probation Service to manage their risk effectively. Offenders who breach their licence conditions so as to exhibit increased risk are liable to be recalled to custody. Known sexual and violent offenders are managed under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA are a statutory framework, in which the Police, Prison and Probation Services are required to work together to assess and manage offenders’ risks.Efficient sharing of information between Police and Probation is key to keeping people safe. We have assigned £1.5 million per year to fund staff directly to access police domestic abuse information and a further £4 million to work with Children’s Services to access safeguarding information. In the 2021 Spending Review, we made permanent the additional £155 million per year for the new unified Probation Service that has been invested since 2020/21. This has helped us recruit a record-breaking 1007 trainee probation officers in 2020/21 and 1518 in 2021/22, with a further 1500 planned for 2022/23.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Azerbaijan: Conscientious Objectors

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the treatment of conscientious objectors by the authorities in Azerbaijan; and what representations they have made to the government of Azerbaijan about the introduction of a civilian alternative to military service on the grounds of conscience.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has made no assessment on the treatment of conscientious objectors by the authorities in Azerbaijan and has not engaged with the Azerbaijani Government on this issue.

Developing Countries: Coronavirus

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since the 'COVID-19 action plan: G7 Foreign Ministers’statement' was released in May 2022.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK has committed £2.1 billion since 2020 to help countries fight COVID and manage its impacts and we have donated over 85 million vaccine doses, which helped protect medical staff and vulnerable people, when there was a shortage of vaccines. As global vaccine supply now outstrips demand, the UK is supporting low-income countries to vaccinate their high-risk populations through the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership.Therapeutics and diagnostics are a fundamental part of pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and future health threats. That is why the UK co-chaired, with South Africa, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Working Group on Therapeutics and Diagnostics and in September, published its report setting out recommendations.The UK is committed to acting on lessons from COVID-19 to ensure we are better prepared for the next health threat. The UK welcomes the new Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Preparedness and is closely engaging on the development of a Pandemic Instrument to help strengthen international collaboration against future health threats.

Ministry of Defence

Navy

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to (1) the Written Answer fromBaroness Goldie on 22 September (HL2312), and (2) programme data released by the Ministry of Defence indicating a reduction in tonnage of 65,000 tons, whether they cannow provide a detailed breakdown of how theycalculatedan increase of 59,000 tons.

Baroness Goldie: Tonnage was calculated in 2020 as 799,000, with a total of 88 platforms.By 2030, we expect growth in tonnage to increase to 858,000 with a total of 83 platforms.Increases in tonnage is expected for eight platforms by 2030. Decreases in tonnage is expected for nine platforms by 2030.

AUKUS

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the AUKUS agreement; and in what areas such progress has been made.

Baroness Goldie: We are more than one year into the 18-month feasibility study period for AUKUS, with work advancing on training for Australian submariners, information sharing on nuclear naval propulsion, and adherence to the highest non-proliferation standards in consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. We are also making substantial progress in the four original areas of advanced capabilities, with workstreams on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, and cyber. A further four additional workstreams, introduced in April 2022, in hypersonics and counter-hypersonics capabilities, electronic warfare capabilities, information sharing and innovation have also made strides.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Bolton and Medway

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the first 500 people issued with universal credit migration notices in Bolton and Medway from 9 May, (1) claimed universal credit by their initial (un-extended) deadline, (2) claimed universal credit by their extended deadline, (3) did not claim universal credit by their final deadline, and (4) missed their deadline and had their legacy benefit stopped.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: We will set out our learnings and observations from the first phase of discovery process in due course.

Universal Credit: Bolton and Medway

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the first 500 people issued with universal credit migration notices in Bolton and Medway from 9 May, who had a complex need or disability missed their final deadline.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: We will set out our learnings and observations from the first phase of discovery process in due course.

Universal Credit: Child Tax Credit

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Completing the move to Universal Credit report, published on 6 June, which estimated that one million families receiving tax credits in April 2022 may need to move to universal credit, what estimate they have made of (1) how many of these families were in receipt of Child Tax Credit, and (2) how many children were living in those families.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: There were a total of 1.2 million households in receipt of Tax Credits in April 2022 who we estimated to be in scope for Moving to UC. Of these 880,000 were in receipt of Child Tax Credits. We do not have a current estimate of how many children were living in those families at that time.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environmental Land Management Schemes

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they can provide an update on the current status of the roll-out of the environmental land management schemes; and when they expect the schemes to be fully rolled out.

Lord Benyon: The first Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot agreements started in 2021. We started to roll out core elements of the Sustainable Farming Incentive from June 2022, and we will expand those elements until we have the full offer available in 2025. In February 2022, farmers and land managers were invited to apply for funding for Landscape Recovery, and following a competitive application process, Defra confirmed the 22 selected projects on Friday 2 September 2022. We will release more information on round 2 in due course. We will also publish more information on Local Nature Recovery by the end of the year.

Environment Protection

Baroness Parminter: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the final Environmental Principles Policy Statement.

Lord Benyon: Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft Policy Statement concluded in June. Consideration of the feedback received from Parliament is still ongoing.

Environment Protection

Baroness Parminter: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to engage business, civil society and land management stakeholders in the preparation of the first annual environmental improvement planunderthe Environment Act 2021.

Lord Benyon: Defra engages with business, civil society and land management partners on an ongoing basis, both on individual policies and on the development of the Environmental Improvement Plan as a whole. This engagement will continue over the coming months.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government underwhat conditions badger culls would be extended beyond 2025; and what evidence would be required before a decision on extension is made.

Lord Benyon: Controlling TB in wildlife reservoirs, specifically badgers, makes up part of the package of measures of Defra's bovine TB eradication strategy, with the aim of achieving Officially TB Free status for England by 2038.As part of the next phase of the strategy, HM Government will now evolve its approach and gradually move on from intensive badger culling over the next few years. Localised badger culling will remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed. The detailed proposal for epidemiologically led culling is currently under development.

Home Office

Asylum: Rwanda

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people deemed to be adults and issued with a Notice of Intent for removal under the Rwanda scheme have subsequently been found to be children.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’, which can be found on gov.uk.Data on age disputes raised can be found in table Asy_D05 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’, which is attached (annex A). Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2022.The Home Office does not publish a breakdown on the number of age assessments related to inadmissibility.Annex A (xlsx, 170.1KB)

Madeleine McCann

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Sharpe of Epsom on 21 September (HL2204), what specific criteria within the Special Grant processes were applied to the most recent application for continued funding of Operation Grange; and what plans they have to publish (1) their analysis of these criteria, and (2) their reasons for approving the application.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: In May 2011, the then Home Secretary commissioned the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to undertake an investigation into the disappearance of Madeline McCann. As this was a request from Government and not within the MPS’s normal duties, the Home Office agreed to fund the investigation though the Police Special Grant. Funding is approved annually, in line with normal Special Grant processes. The length of the investigation is an operational decision for MPS. The Home Office receives progress updates from the operational team.

Counter-terrorism

Lord Skidelsky: To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, how many UK citizens have (1) been questioned under the power in paragraph 1, (2) been detained under the power in paragraph 4, and (3) had articles retained under the power in paragraph 11.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Schedule 3 helps protect public safety by allowing counter-terrorism police to conduct a Schedule 3 stop and examination of a person at the border for the purpose of determining whether they appear to be someone who is involved in hostile activity. Hostile State Actors may be highly sophisticated and have significant operational capability.It is because of this that the Government has decided to take a more cautious approach to the publication of statistics relating to the use of Schedule 3 powers and will not comment on operational matters.Information and statistics related to the use of Schedule 3 powers are made available to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner in support of his statutory oversight function and to inform his annual report.

Asylum: Children

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the next version of theProcessing children's asylum claims guidance.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Processing children's asylum claims guidance is under review. The current version of the guidance does not yet reflect changes under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, where those came into force on 28 June 2022. Other guidance reflecting those changes made under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which are relevant to children’s asylum cases, are available on GOV.UK. We are engaging with external stakeholders on the proposed updates to the guidance and a new version will be published in due course.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State at the Home Office on 27 September (53567), how many Afghan refugees arrived in the UK and were resettled under Pathway 2 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme between 5 January and 5 October.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The UK has now welcomed its first arrivals under ACRS Pathway 2 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and we will resettle many more people through it in the coming years.The Home Office will include Afghan resettlement statistics in its quarterly Immigration Statistics publications in due course.

Home Office: Standards

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to (1) reduce the backlog of cases in the Home Office, and (2) prevent further Home Office backlogs in the future.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has faced a number of pressures in the past two years in respect of demand for visas. Visa routes have seen high demand following the end of the pandemic, easing of travel restrictions and helping people forced to flee their homes as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.The visa waiting times page on GOV.UK is updated regularly to help customers understand expected visa processing times across all the main visa routes, and customers are encouraged to apply early for their visa.UKVI continues to speed up decision making by rolling out better, more efficient technology, including digital interviewing and moving away from a paper-based system. UKVI is also continuing to recruit more decision-making staff.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghan citizens have been brought to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Programme during (1) 2022, and (2) the last three months; and, in each case, how many of them are women and children.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 (and counting) applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.At 12 August 2022, we have granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 11,303 individuals across the ARAP and ACRS, since they opened in April 2021 and January 2022, respectively. We are unable, at this time, to provide a breakdown of whether a grant of leave was made under the ARAP or the ACRS Pathway 1. Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems.The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk, with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.   More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at gov.uk.

Work Permits: India

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask His Majesty's Government how many work permits have been issued to Indian nationals in each of the past five years; and how many Indian nationals have overstayed their visas in each of the past five years.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the immigration statistics quarterly release. The transparency data provides outstanding applications by specific route and can be found featured in the ‘Migration Transparency Data’ on the GOV.UK website.The immigration statistics Data Tables for Work can be found at Migration Statistics – Immigration Statistics, year ending June 2022, using the link ‘Why do people come to the UK? Work’ section 3 ‘Data Tables’. This table, at ‘Vis_03a’ tab, provides the numbers of work entry clearance visa cases applied for, issued, and refused for the year ending June 2022. There have been 117,446 applications for entry clearance for work purposes by Indian nationals from June 2021-June 2022, with 110,816 visas granted. Further details can be found on GOV.UK, including archived statistics.The statistics relating to in-country work visa applications (extensions) is available on GOV.UK per annum, covering each year since the transparency data reporting began in 2010: however it is not broken down by nationality.We do not routinely publish any data on numbers of individuals that have overstayed their visa expiry in the UK.

Visas: Overseas Students

Lord Johnson of Marylebone: To ask His Majesty's Government how long is the current average international student visa processing time by nationality of applicant.

Lord Johnson of Marylebone: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of international student visas are being processed within the service standard for decision-making.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Home Office Migration Statistics do not publish service standard information by nationality of applicant. Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data and can be found at: Visas and Citizenship data: Q2 2022. (Annex A)Information on our current processing times can be found on Gov.uk.Annex A (xlsx, 541.8KB)

Asylum: Finance

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they havemade of the number ofpeople with British childrenwho haveapplied for a change to their asylum status from a status with no recourse to public funds.

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government whether people granted temporary protection under the Permission to stay on a protection route for asylum claims lodged on or after 28 June 2022 guidance, published on 28 June, will permanently avoid a change to their conditions of no recourse to public funds.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Individuals granted refugee permission to stay (Group 1 refugees) or temporary permission to stay (Group 2 refugees) currently have full access to the labour market, as well as recourse to public funds.Section 12 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 permits differentiation on the basis of access to public funds. All our policies are kept under review and may be subject to change in the future.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Affordable Housing

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to include a revision of the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework review.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: We have no current plans to modify the definition of affordable housing. Any review of the National Planning Policy Framework will be consulted on.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address pressures on those hosting Ukrainian refugees through the Homes for Ukraine scheme in order to avoid unintended consequences, such as relationship breakdown or homelessness, where alternative solutions cannot be found for their guests.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.The Government is providing £10,500 per person to councils under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to enable them to provide support to individuals and families, including in the minority of cases where someone is left without accommodation.The Government has updated the guidance on rematching in case of relationship breakdowns and for who are not ready to leave sponsorship and move into their own alternative accommodation, but are unable to extend their sponsorship with the current host, following the end of their initial stay.We have also provided councils with £316 million for this year (2022) to help prevent and meet the costs of homelessness.

Freeports: Scotland

Lord Dunlop: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the bids submitted to become a Scottish Green Freeport; and when they will announce which locations have been selected.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Green Freeports in Scotland: bidding prospectus (attached) sets out the assessment process for Scottish Green Freeport bids. The Government expects to announce the winning bids, jointly with the Scottish Government, very soon. The Green Freeports in Scotland bidding prospectus (pdf, 1334.2KB)

Levelling Up Fund

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will announce the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 bidding process.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Levelling Up and driving growth across the UK is a key priority of this Government.All bids to the second round of the Levelling Up Fund are currently being assessed in line with our published guidance. I expect to announce the outcome of round 2 by the end of the year.

Property: Sales

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of properties were sold in each of the Council Tax bands in (a) 2004, and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Department does not hold information on the number of domestic properties sold by council tax band.

Cabinet Office

War Memorials: Greater London

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfe on 7 October (HL2313), when they expect work to be completed so that planning for a recommissioning ceremony can begin.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Further to the last response from the Government Property Agency with regards to the Naval Monument, we can now confirm that all works have been completed and that it is now fully operational.

Privy Council

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government which minister is accountable for the Privy Council office; and what reporting mechanisms exist to Parliament in relation to the activities of the office.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Privy Council Office provides the Secretariat to the Privy Council and is a constituent part of the Cabinet Office. The Minister with responsibility for the Privy Council Office is the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the Commons, the Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt. Relevant Government policy ministers are accountable to Parliament for all matters conducted through the Privy Council.

Monarchy: Ceremonies

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government to which events to mark the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and proclamation events to mark the accession of His Majesty King Charles III that they were responsible for organising, members of the Northern Ireland Judiciary were invited; and (1) which events they attended, and (2) who was in attendance from this group in each case.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, The Rt Hon. Dame Siobhan Keegan DBE KC was the member of the Northern Ireland Judiciary invited to events to mark the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and proclamation events to mark the accession of His Majesty King Charles III, for which the organisational responsibility was with HMG. The Lady Chief Justice attended the Accession Council. The Lady Chief Justice was invited to the Proclamation at Hillsborough Castle and was invited to and attended the Service of Reflection at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. The Royal Household had responsibility for the guest list for the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. HMG provided support in coordinating certain elements of the guest list.

Official Residences

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate was made by the Privy Council office of the number of people who can be safely accommodated in the picture gallery of St James’ Palace.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Privy Council Office is not responsible for estimating the number of people who can be safely accommodated in the Picture Gallery of St James' Palace.St. James's Palace has a maximum occupancy figure for each of its State Rooms developed in line with the relevant legislation on public safety (including fire safety and evacuation) in historic buildings.

King Charles III: Ceremonies

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government, of the 200 members of the Privy Council invited to attend the Accession Council on Saturday 10 September, how many of those past and present politicians were (1) members of the Conservative Party, (2) members of the Labour Party, (3) members of the Liberal Democrat Party, and (4) members of other parties.

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of those invited to attend the Accession Council had a defined disability.

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government how many of those attending the Accession Council, other than members of the Royal Family, were not Privy Councillors.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The published list of attendees at the Accession Council held on 10th September 2022 is available on the Privy Council website, and can be found here. This includes both members of the Privy Council and non-members. We do not hold a separate list identifying those who attended who were not Privy Counsellors.The Privy Council Office does not record information relating to past or present political party memberships held by Privy Counsellors.The Privy Council Office does not hold information related to a Privy Counsellor’s ‘defined disability’. List of those present at the Accession Council (pdf, 152.4KB)

Treasury

Economic Growth

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government what level of economic growth was achieved in the UK in each of the last 25 financial years.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Data on GDP growth for the last 25 financial years can be found online at the following link and is provided in the attached. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/uksecondestimateofgdpdatatablesONS data (xlsx, 1643.8KB)

Defibrillators: VAT

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of VAT on defibrillators for those groups which do not qualify for an exemption; and whether they will consider removing VAT charges from sales of these devices.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Automated External Defibrillators (AED) save lives, which is why the Government has taken action to boost their provision. The Government provides support to aid the purchase of AEDs through VAT refunds on purchases made by local authorities and VAT reliefs for purchases made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT. The Department of Health and Social Care are examining whether there are ways to further expand public access to defibrillators. Introducing any new VAT reliefs would come at a cost to the Exchequer and any changes should be seen in the context of over £50 billion worth of requests for relief from VAT received since the EU referendum. Given this, there are no plans to change the current VAT treatment on defibrillators. However, the Government keeps all taxes under constant review.

Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts

Lord Leigh of Hurley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Growth Plan 2022 (CP 743), published on 23 September, whetherthe extensions to the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts will make those schemes permanent.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: In the Growth Plan 2022 published on 23 September, the Government made clear its support for the Enterprise Investment/Venture Capital Trust schemes. The Government remains supportive of extending them in the future and will engage with stakeholders on the process of implementing this extension.

National Insurance Contributions: Females

Lord Davies of Brixton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many women currently pay the reduced National Insurance contribution rate for married women and widows.

Lord Davies of Brixton: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the month and year of birth of the youngest person currently paying the reduced National Insurance contribution rate for married women and widows.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: HMRC estimates that fewer than 1,000 individuals currently pay the married women’s reduced rate of National Insurance. HMRC has a statutory duty of confidentiality regarding taxpayer information, which prohibits officers of HMRC from releasing specifics on individual taxpayers. As a result, the Government cannot provide the information requested on the youngest person currently paying the reduced rate of National Insurance contributions for married women and widows.

Economic Growth: G7

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the average annual rate of GDP growth since 2008 of (1) theUK,and (2) other G7 economies.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The UK’s average annual GDP growth rate between 2008-2021 was the fourth highest in the G7 at 0.8%, below the US (1.6%), Canada (1.3%) and Germany (0.9%). It was above France (0.7%), Japan (0.2%) and Italy (-0.4%).

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Regulation

Lord Pendry: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still plan to publish the White Paper for an independent football regulator.

Lord Kamall: The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022.The Government recognises the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term. Therefore, the government is taking the time to consider the policy and consult the numerous stakeholders, but remains committed to publishing a White Paper setting out our detailed response to the Fan Led Review of Football Governance.

Leisure: Facilities

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the cost to local authorities for providing indoor leisure facilities during the winter of 2022–23.

Lord Kamall: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor leisure facilities. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support indoor and outdoor facilities.The Government also recognises the impact rising energy prices will have on organisations of all sizes, including on providers of indoor leisure facilities. In September the government announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including leisure facilities) will be offered support.After an initial 6 months of the scheme, the government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. There will be a review in 3 months' time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.The Government invested £100 million in the National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority leisure centres and facilities throughout the country after the pandemic.

Identification: Cybersecurity

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the risk to image recognition systems from cyber attacks using radio waves.

Lord Kamall: The Government is aware of recent research into the use of radio waves to disrupt image recognition. As part of the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, the government continually works to better understand cyber security vulnerabilities and how to protect businesses and users against these.

Voice over Internet Protocol

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government what involvement they have had, if any, in BT’s decision to pause the Digital Voice programme.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government what oversight, if any, they have of BT’s Digital Voice programme; and what accountability measures are in place for key performance indicators.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government, as a condition for government investment in the Digital Voice programme, what performance indicators are required relating to access and inclusion for vulnerable customers; and whether an equalities impact assessment has been conducted to measure performance against these indicators.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government, as a condition for government investment in the Digital Voice programme, what analogue or other back up plans they have required BT to provide for individual householders in the event of failure or lack of digital services.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government what consultation with customers or residents they have required as part of the Digital Voice programme; and what consultation has so far taken place.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of national communications resilience following completion of the Digital Voice programme.

Lord Kamall: The UK’s transition from the Public Switched Telecoms Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony services (such as BT’s Digital Voice programme) is an industry-led migration and does not result or benefit from any government decision or investment. The decision to upgrade the PSTN was taken as the technology it relies upon is now outdated and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to source the spare parts needed to repair it. Whilst BT is subject to the Universal Service Obligation, which requires it to provide telephony services to any premises that requests them, this obligation can be met using any technology.Despite this, the government recognises the unique importance of the fixed telephone network in the UK, in particular to elderly or vulnerable users and customers of telecoms enabled care services. As a result, the government works closely with telecoms providers and Ofcom to ensure such users are protected and that where possible, customer disruption is minimised. DCMS receives regular updates from telecoms providers about the progress of their migration and any emerging challenges they face.Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. It has published guidance on the matter of vulnerable consumers, which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers throughout the upgrade process. This guidance is available on Ofcom’s website.In addition, with regard to the issue of network and power resilience, in 2018 Ofcom conducted a consultation with the general public, Ofgem and the wider telecoms sector to assess the impact of the migration on access to the emergency services in the event of a power outage. In light of its findings, Ofcom has stipulated that telecom providers must provide digital voice customers with access to 999 services for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power cut. This is a minimum standard and many providers offer additional resilience options.The motivations behind BT’s decision to pause its rollout are a private matter for the company. The Government meets regularly with BT to discuss a range of matters including the migration from PSTN to VoIP and DCMS ministers frequently share any concerns they have received from members of the public.The telecoms sector has proven itself to be extremely robust and there are statutory obligations on telecoms providers to maintain the availability of services and report significant outages to Ofcom. DCMS works closely with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom to ensure the sector remains resilient to all risks that may affect services, including technological transformation. The Government works together with the telecoms industry through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group to agree methods to strengthen telecoms resilience and establish best practice across the sector.

Swimming Pools: Energy

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the energy crisis on public swimming facilities.

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to prevent closures of swimming pools, given that 60 that have closed over the past three years.

Lord Kamall: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on organisations of all sizes, including on providers of indoor leisure facilities. In September the government announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including leisure centres and swimming pools) will be offered support.After an initial 6 months of the scheme, the government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. There will be a review in 3 months' time to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support.Sport England has invested £9,619,264 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £6,260,502 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.